Generation Z – There Is Hope!By Shlomo Maital Generation Y is the generation of those born between 1981 and 1995. They are also known as Millenials. They have been slandered as selfish, egoistic, live-for-the-present, and worse. Today they are between 23 and 37. Generation Z is the generation of those born 1996 and later. A New York Times column by Dan Levin, “Even young Republicans are drifting left on social issues”, Jan. 25/2019, reports on a Pew Research Center survey of American Gen Z, some 12,000 of them. Here are the main findings:• Only 30% approved of Trump’s performance. This is well below the average (Trump is deeply underwater in his approval ratings).• 70% said they wanted government to do more to solve the nation’s problems. [Levin says, those attitudes mirror those of Gen Y, which may mean that these two younger generations can powerfully combine to change the current bleak reality in the US]. • There are more than 68 million Americans who belong to GenZ. This is 22% of the American population. So more than one American in every five is GenZ. This makes this group politically decisive, in the long run. • 2/3 of GenZ believe blacks are treated less fairly than whites in the US.• GenZ believe government should play a more active role.

This is not good news for Republicans; GenZ is more progressive than older generations. But it is good news for those who seek a less conservative America.

T O O M U C H S T U F F !By Shlomo Maital From a recent article in The Guardian:The average ten-year-old child has toys worth almost £7,000 but plays with just £330 worth of them, a study has shown. A typical child owns 238 toys in total but parents think they play with just 12 ‘favourites’ on a daily basis making up just five per cent of their toys. The study of 3,000 parents also revealed one in two parents admit ‘wasting hundreds of pounds’ on toys their children never play with. It also emerged more than half believe their children end up picking the same toys day in and day out because they have too many to choose from.

Do we buy too much ‘stuff’ for our kids? We do. But note – we also buy too much stuff for ourselves. How else can you explain the amazing popularity of Marie Kondo, her book, and Netflix series? Kudos to Kondo, for helping us reduce clutter and clean up. Now, for a much tougher question — instead of buying stuff and throwing it out, how can we rewire our brains, defeat the consumer spend-and-borrow ethos and stop buying things that bring neither joy nor satisfaction? Kondo’s principle: Does it bring joy? If not, throw it out. Now, let’s take it one step further. BEFORE you buy it — will it REALLY make me happy, after the first 10 minutes? No? Forget it. Is there a Marie Kondo out there, who can write the book on The Life Changing Magic of Not Consuming?